Three Redskins Receivers Could Hit 1,000-Yard Mark

With just two games left in the season, three different Redskins wide receivers are closing in on 1,000 receiving yards marks. If all three do, it would mark only the second time in franchise history that has happened.

With just two games left in the season, three different Redskins wide receivers are closing in on 1,000 receiving yards marks. If all three do, it would mark only the second time in franchise history that has happened.

Three Washington Redskins wide receivers could end the season with at least 1,000 receiving yards on the season.

With two games remaining in the season, DeSean Jackson (857), Pierre Garçon (851) and Jamison Crowder (828) all could surpass the 1,000-yard mark by season’s end depending on their performances against the Chicago Bears and New York Giants.

If all three members of the trio eclipse 1,000 yards on the year, it will mark the second time in franchise history that three wide receivers all hit the mark in the same season.

In 1989, Gary Clark (1,229), Art Monk (1,186) and Ricky Sanders (1,138) collected more than 1,000 yards on a team that would finish the regular season with a 10-6 record.

After a five-game mid-season lull in production followed by being inactive in Week 10 against the Minnesota Vikings with a shoulder injury, Jackson has been at his best in recent weeks.

In the Redskins’ last five games, Jackson has collected 19 receptions for 441 yards and three touchdowns.

“I think when you throw the ball down the field sometimes you have to let the ball go with some trust,” Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins said recently. “I think the Arizona game was an example where DeSean [caught that deep ball and when I let the ball go he hadn’t quite gotten on top of the defensive back yet. You just trust that down the field he’ll eventually pull away. And that’s through years really of throwing with him and realizing how that plays out.”

Already second in NFL history for 60-plus-yard touchdown receptions behind just Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice -- who took 15 seasons to reach 23 such plays to Jackson’s 22 such plays in nine seasons – the California product needs just one more 80-yard touchdown to tie the record for more scores in that category, too.

Those sorts of plays have come in moments where the Redskins need a jolt, such was the case two weeks ago when he caught an 80-yard touchdown reception over his shoulder on a pass that was slightly off target from Cousins.

“Kirk did a great job in putting enough air under it where DeSean could adjust to it,” Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said. “DeSean would’ve been a world-class center fielder; he adjusts to the ball like no other. You just put it up in the air where he can see it and find it and he’ll get it.”

Garçon, meanwhile, has been the Redskins’ most consistent wide receiver this season despite hitting the 100-yard mark only once.

The Mount Union product, however, has recorded at least 50 receiving yards in 10 different games.

No, he isn’t as flashy as Jackson and doesn’t have the side-to-side moves like Crowder, but his reliability provides Cousins a weapon the quarterback knows can gain yards.

“His consistency is not to be taken lightly,” Cousins said earlier this month. “It’s a great comfort to me. He’s just a phenomenal competitor. He works really hard, prepares really hard. He’s a difference maker on our team. He has been now for several years. He’s a guy that you’re glad he’s been able to stay healthy and continue to contribute.”

As for Crowder, he’s avoided the sophomore slump that has plagued so many second-year players over the years. He’s already set career highs in every statistical category.

If the Duke product is able to go above the 1,000-yard mark, he’ll become only the fourth Redskins player to reach that milestone in his first two seasons in the NFL (Charlie Brown, Gary Clark and Rod Gardner are the others).

“He runs great routes. He’s very quarterback friendly. He understands concepts – how to get there, when to get there, how to set up the defender, man, zone, all that stuff,” Gruden said earlier this season. “That’s so crucial as far as a receiver is concerned. You can’t really coach all the nuances of the coverages, but he just naturally sees it, feels it and reacts. He’s very quick out of cuts. He’s got strong hands and he’s great after the catch. Really not a lot of negative things if there’s anything to say about him as a wideout or as a player or as a person.”